Lawmakers agree to move Columbus monument to Aeroparque

The Lower House endorsed today the agreement between Government and BA City to move a statue of Christopher Columbus from “Plaza Colón”, next to Government’s House, to Aeroparque airport.

Victory Front (FPV) and PRO lawmakers were the only ones to vote positively on the initiative, passing the vote 128 to 62.

“With this decision we are not annulling history, we are telling it from another perspective,” head of the Culture commission of the Lower House Nanci Parrilli said, as the Columbus statue is to be replaced by a statue of Argentine independence guerrilla fighter Juana Azurduy.

Meanwhile, PRO lawmaker and caucus leader Federico Pinedo lamented the statue has been “destroyed” during removal and said he laments the “infantile attitude” of people who think history is “the story of one group against another”.

“It is not realistic but infantile to consider Argentine history is about Europeans against indigenous peoples. It is an infantile and reactionary idea indeed,” he said as his caucus voted in favor of the initiative.